Have you ever considered a reverse career?

[Four Seasons]

Have you ever considered working in something you don't like until you have enough money to do what you really want to do later in life?

I'm working in an admin job, and making fairly good money for what it is, but I don't enjoy it. I really miss using my brain, and would love to go back to study, but don't want to make a career out of it. Sometimes I think it would be nice to just keep working until I've got enough money to study art or literature or something full-time when I'm older.

[texasgirl]

I've heard of that philosophy, but I don't think that it usually works when put into practice. The people I know who have gone into high-paying careers have basically found it too difficult to give up their standard of living and steady paycheck later on — even if they really want to leave their careers for their passion. I'm not saying that it never works, but it is definitely harder to downscale yourself financially after a certain point.

[winneythepooh7]

When I was working on my Master's in Social Work, I had classes with a lot of older people who had worked in more profitable sectors for a great deal of their professional lives, however, decided to switch over to my profession.

[NewMrs.]

Have you ever considered working in something you don't like until you have enough money to do what you really want to do later in life?

I'm working in an admin job, and making fairly good money for what it is, but I don't enjoy it. I really miss using my brain, and would love to go back to study, but don't want to make a career out of it. Sometimes I think it would be nice to just keep working until I've got enough money to study art or literature or something full-time when I'm older.

I just started reading Dave Ramsey's "The Total Money Makeover," and I'm only on Chapter 4, but it is my impression that he endorses stuff like this. From what I understand, in the first few steps of his Makeover, you do whatever you can to raise as much cash as you can. This includes working overttime, working second jobs, etc. (You're also supposed to sell everything you own that you can.) The idea is to put all of this money toward your outstanding debt to pay it down as quickly as you possibly can. Then you're supposed to grow your savings and pay for everything you buy in cash. (He advocates saving money to buy your next car in cash instead of taking on a car loan.)

I missed a bunch of steps, but the gist is to reduce your debt payments and increase your savings. After you do all of this, you should have more freedom to quit a job that you dislike and pursue a career that you really want. He quotes a bunch of people that want to quit high-paying sales jobs, etc. to pursue callings such as ministry or mission work.

His whole focus is on making huge sacrifices now so that you can follow your dreams in the future.

[NewMrs.]

I've heard of that philosophy, but I don't think that it usually works when put into practice. The people I know who have gone into high-paying careers have basically found it too difficult to give up their standard of living and steady paycheck later on — even if they really want to leave their careers for their passion. I'm not saying that it never works, but it is definitely harder to downscale yourself financially after a certain point.


One of Ramsey's points is that while its okay to own things, you shouldn't let your possessions own you. His advice is to embrace a total lifestyle change, which he admits is very difficult to undertake.

[texasgirl]

One of Ramsey's points is that while its okay to own things, you shouldn't let your possessions own you. His advice is to embrace a total lifestyle change, which he admits is very difficult to undertake.
That's a good point, and kind of what I was trying to say in my original post. I'm all for going after a career you love rather than one that simply pays well, but it is tough if you get used to a certain quality of life. You just have to be ok with giving up a lot of material satisfaction (in most cases, anyway) in return for personal satisfaction — which, unfortunately, is not as easy as it sounds... hence the term "golden handcuffs" :rolleyes:

[winneythepooh7]

That's a good point, and kind of what I was trying to say in my original post. I'm all for going after a career you love rather than one that simply pays well, but it is tough if you get used to a certain quality of life. You just have to be ok with giving up a lot of material satisfaction (in most cases, anyway) in return for personal satisfaction — which, unfortunately, is not as easy as it sounds... hence the term "golden handcuffs" :rolleyes:

I dunno. I think for many of us, who already live a modest lifestyle, it's not really that difficult.......and I know there are many people on these boards who live on even less than I do........

[texasgirl]

I dunno. I think for many of us, who already live a modest lifestyle, it's not really that difficult.......and I know there are many people on these boards who live on even less than I do........
Oh, I'm definitely among those w/ a modest lifestyle. I'm a journalist, so I am no stranger to roughing it. I was just responding to the OP, who said he made "fairly good money" at his job — though I know that term is subjective.

[Four Seasons]

When I said pays well, I meant it's an admin job, and I earn an average income, whereas you'd normally earn less than average in an admin job.

Without working for another twenty years and investing wisely, at this level of income, I'm in no position to quit and do what I want.

[Valentine]

I've heard of that philosophy, but I don't think that it usually works when put into practice. The people I know who have gone into high-paying careers have basically found it too difficult to give up their standard of living and steady paycheck later on — even if they really want to leave their careers for their passion. I'm not saying that it never works, but it is definitely harder to downscale yourself financially after a certain point.

Or you can be honest with yourself, say "my job pays a lot of money, but it sucks", and live way below your means and sock away the cash in high-yeild accounts, until the day you quit. Keep a deadline in mind as a goal to work twards.

[texasgirl]

Four Seasons, I guess I have two questions: Is there any way you can do what you want right now and be able to make enough money to live (even if that means very modestly)? If not, is there anything you would like doing ok that pays more than your admin job? That way you could do what you really wanted before the 20-year mark hit... because that's too long to be doing something you don't love, IMHO.

[Four Seasons]

The short answer is no. I did a liberal arts degree, because that's what I love, but I'm not qualified to do anything. If i go back to study something else for the purpose of making more money, then I'll just end up with more student loans.

[texasgirl]

Actually, there's a lot you can do with a liberal arts degree — marketing, communication, education, and research are all career tracks you could take. What do you ultimately want to do? Is there any related career you could pursue while you save up to do what you really want? I'm really not trying to sound like a career counselor here, I promise! :)

[wordsmith]

Have you ever considered working in something you don't like until you have enough money to do what you really want to do later in life?

I'm working in an admin job, and making fairly good money for what it is, but I don't enjoy it. I really miss using my brain, and would love to go back to study, but don't want to make a career out of it. Sometimes I think it would be nice to just keep working until I've got enough money to study art or literature or something full-time when I'm older.

Not really. In a sense, "paying your dues" someplace is the same principle, but although I'd make the sacrifice of putting in my time doing something that's not quite to the level I see myself at for the sake of proving myself and getting the valuable experience necessary to eventually get where I ideally wanna be, I'd never actually work something I truly don't like with the idea that I'd ostensibly be able to do what I want later in life. For one, you don't know that you're gonna have a "later in life." I've never seen the point of being miserable now on the off-chance that it might - might- make you happier in the future.

[wordsmith]

Actually, there's a lot you can do with a liberal arts degree

Yes, yes, there is.

[caostotale]

Actually, there's a lot you can do with a liberal arts degree — marketing, communication, education, and research are all career tracks you could take. What do you ultimately want to do? Is there any related career you could pursue while you save up to do what you really want? I'm really not trying to sound like a career counselor here, I promise! :)

I don't mean to be negative, but most of these career tracks have nothing to do with what a lot of people under the "liberal arts" stigma (as it's definitely become these days) pursue during their education. As a former history/comparative literature/music student at a major university who studied the material with great zeal, it was a tough pill to swallow that in order to get employed somewhere that would support my near-poverty standard of living (and my income still can't balance my living bills), I had to pretty much forget all the inspiring work I did towards my degree and instead go around touting my "work experience" merits to raise HR eyebrows. Surely, some liberal arts degrees like communications (which is pretty much a bogus science) and education (a degreed form of work-training) segue perfectly into the work world. Nearly every other study, especially the more bookish ones like history, English, literature, art history, and philosophy segue into either advanced academics (which usually require a financial buffer) or a work-field completely unrelated to any of the former subject matter. I'd love to teach music for a living because I'm very good at it and my students have always enjoyed it, BUT I can't get benefits, stock options, or any of the like... I pray everyday that some useless senile relative will croak and leave me lots of money or that I'll win the lottery, because the only reason money has any importance to me is that it can create time to do other things. I'd love to pursue pursuits, but society's drunken pursuit of wealth and ceaseless exploitation of every single person (i.e. outlandish rent prices, prices for communications, prices for travel, taxes that have little accountability) has sucked me into its s##teating matrix.

[wordsmith]

I don't mean to be negative, but most of these career tracks have nothing to do with what a lot of people under the "liberal arts" stigma (as it's definitely become these days) pursue during their education. As a former history/comparative literature/music student at a major university who studied the material with great zeal, it was a tough pill to swallow that in order to get employed somewhere that would support my near-poverty standard of living (and my income still can't balance my living bills), I had to pretty much forget all the inspiring work I did towards my degree and instead go around touting my "work experience" merits to raise HR eyebrows. Surely, some liberal arts degrees like communications (which is pretty much a bogus science) and education (a degreed form of work-training) segue perfectly into the work world. Nearly every other study, especially the more bookish ones like history, English, literature, art history, and philosophy segue into either advanced academics (which usually require a financial buffer) or a work-field completely unrelated to any of the former subject matter. I'd love to teach music for a living because I'm very good at it and my students have always enjoyed it, BUT I can't get benefits, stock options, or any of the like... I pray everyday that some useless senile relative will croak and leave me lots of money or that I'll win the lottery, because the only reason money has any importance to me is that it can create time to do other things. I'd love to pursue pursuits, but society's drunken pursuit of wealth and ceaseless exploitation of every single person (i.e. outlandish rent prices, prices for communications, prices for travel, taxes that have little accountability) has sucked me into its s##teating matrix.

I don't agree. My major was English, and I was dissuaded from pursuing a career in academics, since English is pretty flooded. I've been in two different professional fields that were directly related to my studies in English (journalism, currently), and plan on continuing to use my academic background in my career track. It's incredibly adaptable and basically endlessly employable.

[caostotale]

I don't agree. My major was English, and I was dissuaded from pursuing a career in academics, since English is pretty flooded. I've been in two different professional fields that were directly related to my studies in English (journalism, currently), and plan on continuing to use my academic background in my career track. It's incredibly adaptable and basically endlessly employable.

Okay, maybe I am guilty of hyperbole, but I would say that "incredibly adaptable" and "endlessly employable" are also hyperbolic to an extent. Anyone I know who's managed to grab a career that is related to their major will say it's easy. Anyone like me who has failed to find anything will say it's hard. Kind of makes me think that the degree plays a tertiary role.

A good friend of mine who was a brilliant writer in college double-majored in English and journalism and had to settle for a data entry position after spending a year touting a degree that really meant a lot to him and coming up empty. I pretty much hate my degree and wish that I never earned it. If I could go back to college (financially impossible) I would study something more direct and definitive like environmental chemistry or biotechnology because those degrees leave people less susceptible to this sense of aimlessness that my endlessly ambiguous-seeming degree has granted me in the work world. Most often, my "major" means nothing in job interviews, and I get the lovely question "B.A. or B.S.....M.A???" which makes me feel like college has become a thoroughly diluted concept.

[wordsmith]

Okay, maybe I am guilty of hyperbole, but I would say that "incredibly adaptable" and "endlessly employable" are also hyperbolic to an extent. Anyone I know who's managed to grab a career that is related to their major will say it's easy. Anyone like me who has failed to find anything will say it's hard. Kind of makes me think that the degree plays a tertiary role.

I can see we're heading toward the "you're just lucky and other people aren't," camp, so I have to call bullshit. I do know that in every job I've had, I've directly used my major (I also have to note that I never said anything was easy, you did). Maybe that's luck if it were one circumstance, but if it's consistently true, it seems to me to be far more indicative that virtually every skill I picked up and/or honed via completing my major course of study is incredibly useful in a variety of professional settings. It's just a marketable major, hands down. It's not luck, it's not hyperbole, it's that the skills and strengths that are applicable to the course of study are also skills and strengths that relate to a great many professions.

It's an easy, pat answer to say, "You can't find a job if you've studied the humanities, liberal arts aren't marketable," to help try and explain why job searches are often difficult, but easy, pat answers aren't necessarily accurate ones.

[winneythepooh7]

[QUOTE=caostotale]

A good friend of mine who was a brilliant writer in college double-majored in English and journalism and had to settle for a data entry position after spending a year touting a degree that really meant a lot to him and coming up empty. I pretty much hate my degree and wish that I never earned it. If I could go back to college (financially impossible) I would study something more direct and definitive like environmental chemistry or biotechnology because those degrees leave people less susceptible to this sense of aimlessness that my endlessly ambiguous-seeming degree has granted me in the work world. Most often, my "major" means nothing in job interviews, and I get the lovely question "B.A. or???" which makes me feel like college has become a thoroughly diluted concept.[/AQUOTE]

Honestly, regardless of WHAT degree a person earns, many if not all people have to start out in entry-level positions such as admin asst or data entry. My first job out of college was related to my degree, but I made like $22K a year and had to work horrible hours. Everyone has to start out somewhere.

[caostotale]

I can see we're heading toward the "you're just lucky and other people aren't," camp, so I have to call bullshit. I do know that in every job I've had, I've directly used my major (I also have to note that I never said anything was easy, you did). Maybe that's luck if it were one circumstance, but if it's consistently true, it seems to me to be far more indicative that virtually every skill I picked up and/or honed via completing my major course of study is incredibly useful in a variety of professional settings. It's just a marketable major, hands down. It's not luck, it's not hyperbole, it's that the skills and strengths that are applicable to the course of study are also skills and strengths that relate to a great many professions.

It's an easy, pat answer to say, "You can't find a job if you've studied the humanities, liberal arts aren't marketable," to help try and explain why job searches are often difficult, but easy, pat answers aren't necessarily accurate ones.

Whatever...I'd still picture you and almost anybody singing a different song if your personal situation was not in tune with that line of reasoning. Just because it explains your success and happiness and looks good on paper doesn't necessarily mean that it's the absolute reason you are where you are. And I'm most certainly not heading towards luck as an explanation. Luck definitely dictates a lot of things in the work world, but so do a lot of other things. My liberal arts degree has been brushed off repeatedly in favor of my "employment history," even to the point of interviewers hanging a ton of questions on my job as a dorm security officer and my summer stints delivering newspapers. People say I'm not selling my academic background (which for liberal arts, is a strong one) but I feel like nobody's buying anyway.

So I'm not accusing anyone of luck as much as I'm trying to say that other things are at play (work skills, good attitude, past employment, correct tie color) in the job-filling mechanisms that populate our nation's offices.

[wordsmith]

Whatever...I'd still picture you and almost anybody singing a different song if your personal situation was not in tune with that line of reasoning. Just because it explains your success and happiness and looks good on paper doesn't necessarily mean that it's the absolute reason you are where you are. And I'm most certainly not heading towards luck as an explanation. Luck definitely dictates a lot of things in the work world, but so do a lot of other things. My liberal arts degree has been brushed off repeatedly in favor of my "employment history," even to the point of interviewers hanging a ton of questions on my job as a dorm security officer and my summer stints delivering newspapers. People say I'm not selling my academic background (which for liberal arts, is a strong one) but I feel like nobody's buying anyway.

So I'm not accusing anyone of luck as much as I'm trying to say that other things are at play (work skills, good attitude, past employment, correct tie color) in the job-filling mechanisms that populate our nation's offices.

Hold up, now. What I said, I said to dispute your assertion that but most of these career tracks have nothing to do with what many people under the humanities umbrella study, and I continue to dispute that. I also disagreed with your assertion that the more "bookish" studies can only be parlayed into unrelated careers.

So let's not twist it into, "You're just saying that because it worked out for you."

Whether or not it's easy to find work, ANY kind of work, due to a lot of factors, some arbitrary, some definitely luck-related and/or timing-related, is another discussion altogether. My attaining my current and past jobs is obviously not solely related to what I studied, but my academic background certainly has been one of many factors that has led toward my employment, in each case, and definitely not an insignificant factor, at that. Your assertion that those backgrounds are worthless in terms of finding related work isn't one I find to be true. All I'm saying.

[caostotale]

I honestly did believe that I would be using my college skills for the jobs I sought after I completed my college degree (even the ones I looked at during college) but the experience definitely dictated the flip-side. I went to many interviews selling my abilities as a researcher and a writer, but I got the idea that no one gave a shit. After seeing numerous others getting pushed off the same way, it became cogent that the history degree is more and more a limp noodle these days, even moreso when tied to another anchor like comp. lit or political science. So, I'm just saying that "directly applying one's major" to building a career can possibly have a desirable outcome....BUT for many could also lead to one depressing and impotent dead-end after another eventually causing despair and nihilism. That hit me approximately when I was forced to start driving a taxi and work in a chemistry lab (working alongside other estranged history and English students) on weekends to keep myself afloat after spending two years trying to tell employers how valuable my college experience would be when translated into something relevant for their firm. Maybe it made a few of them balk before they disqualified me for not having 4 extra years work experience instead. I doubt it though.

When I said that people make it seem easy, it's not that the task was free of difficulty, but it becomes easily assumed that someone else can tailor the same situation through the same methods (i.e. "I managed to make it work, you should be able to also").

I often feel that people get out of school, get a job somehow or other, and then, after having the job by whatever means (school or non-school), figure out a way to explain how their degree got them where they are and how their major played a huge role in this or that. Maybe I'm full of shit; I don't know. But I'm definitely still sitting here on my degree earning less than most GED folk who went right to work instead of kidding themselves into working hard for a worthless piece of paper. If you look around this board, there are certainly plenty more in the same boat.

[winneythepooh7]

While a degree is one important factor, as someone who actually hires, I think working experience does play more of a role in who gets hired. That and attitude, common sense, and well, luck.

[wordsmith]

I went to many interviews selling my abilities as a researcher and a writer, but I got the idea that no one gave a shit.

What were these positions? Were they researcher/writer positions? I have a hard time believing that these skills would be brushed off in that context.

So, I'm just saying that "directly applying one's major" to building a career can possibly have a desirable outcome....BUT for many could also lead to one depressing and impotent dead-end after another eventually causing despair and nihilism.

If you choose to give up, for sure. Nothing causes despair and nihilism but your own attitude.



When I said that people make it seem easy, it's not that the task was free of difficulty, but it becomes easily assumed that someone else can tailor the same situation through the same methods (i.e. "I managed to make it work, you should be able to also").


Not what I was saying at all. What I was doing was disputing the catch-all cop-out that "X background is just useless, so I throw my hands up."

You note in your responses that getting a job is much more complex than just being academically qualified, and you're right...there are a lot of factors at play. Including what you are looking for, where you're looking, where you're willing to go, and at what price. Is it possible that there ARE jobs you could do that would draw on your academic speciality, but you're not applying for them?

[texasgirl]

I honestly did believe that I would be using my college skills for the jobs I sought after I completed my college degree (even the ones I looked at during college) but the experience definitely dictated the flip-side. I went to many interviews selling my abilities as a researcher and a writer, but I got the idea that no one gave a shit. After seeing numerous others getting pushed off the same way, it became cogent that the history degree is more and more a limp noodle these days, even moreso when tied to another anchor like comp. lit or political science. So, I'm just saying that "directly applying one's major" to building a career can possibly have a desirable outcome....BUT for many could also lead to one depressing and impotent dead-end after another eventually causing despair and nihilism. That hit me approximately when I was forced to start driving a taxi and work in a chemistry lab (working alongside other estranged history and English students) on weekends to keep myself afloat after spending two years trying to tell employers how valuable my college experience would be when translated into something relevant for their firm. Maybe it made a few of them balk before they disqualified me for not having 4 extra years work experience instead. I doubt it though.

When I said that people make it seem easy, it's not that the task was free of difficulty, but it becomes easily assumed that someone else can tailor the same situation through the same methods (i.e. "I managed to make it work, you should be able to also").

I often feel that people get out of school, get a job somehow or other, and then, after having the job by whatever means (school or non-school), figure out a way to explain how their degree got them where they are and how their major played a huge role in this or that. Maybe I'm full of shit; I don't know. But I'm definitely still sitting here on my degree earning less than most GED folk who went right to work instead of kidding themselves into working hard for a worthless piece of paper. If you look around this board, there are certainly plenty more in the same boat.

It sounds like you've already made up your mind to be miserable. There are careers out there that you could pursue and probably enjoy if you would decide to stop feeling sorry for yourself. If you have a degree in history, why not teach history? Or, if you don't want to teach, why not get a job that pays the bills while volunteering at a museum? Or, if you want to pursue the sciences, why not apply for administrative positions at a doctor's office? In the meantime, you could possibly save up to go back to school if there's another degree/certification you want to get. There are so many things you could be doing, but it doesn't sound like you're motivated to make your situation any better. You may regret your degree, but you can't do anything about it now except to work with what you've got. I don't feel sorry for you because I think you have plenty of opportunities that you're not actively seeking out. I'm not trying to be harsh, but it just irritates me when people whine and complain rather than taking charge of their lives.

[winneythepooh7]

It sounds like you've already made up your mind to be miserable. There are careers out there that you could pursue and probably enjoy if you would decide to stop feeling sorry for yourself. If you have a degree in history, why not teach history? Or, if you don't want to teach, why not get a job that pays the bills while volunteering at a museum? Or, if you want to pursue the sciences, why not apply for administrative positions at a doctor's office? In the meantime, you could possibly save up to go back to school if there's another degree/certification you want to get. There are so many things you could be doing, but it doesn't sound like you're motivated to make your situation any better. You may regret your degree, but you can't do anything about it now except to work with what you've got. I don't feel sorry for you because I think you have plenty of opportunities that you're not actively seeking out. I'm not trying to be harsh, but it just irritates me when people whine and complain rather than taking charge of their lives.

Agreed. 110%.

[wordsmith]

It sounds like you've already made up your mind to be miserable. There are careers out there that you could pursue and probably enjoy if you would decide to stop feeling sorry for yourself...I don't feel sorry for you because I think you have plenty of opportunities that you're not actively seeking out. I'm not trying to be harsh, but it just irritates me when people whine and complain rather than taking charge of their lives.

This was basically my assessment, as well, as I've read over various things this poster has written.

[caostotale]

well, great. Hugs all around for optimism and high self-esteem. The site is here for people who are subject to some kind of "crisis" but let's try to guilt the shit out of someone who's actually trying to comprehend this "crisis" on his own terms or at least vent at it a little bit for some cheap amusement (better yet, a distraction from my boring job). While I admit that I have a downer attitude towards a lot of things like the work world and what I conceive of the modern world in general, there is plenty of positive in my life that I don't bother tooting my horn about here. I have a great family, a great partner, and fabulous and inspiring musical things going on all the time. My issues lie solely with the work world and the surrounding financial problems that have stemmed off of it. I think it's annoying and a little tasteless when people come onto a site like this to throw their haughty judgment around and act like know-it-alls around less-fortunates just because they want reassurance in their own right-ness about everything. I'm sorry I dared to be honest about my attitudes and situation here. I didn't think I was supposed to stand on ceremony for the happy-go-lucky's on a frigging web forum! I do enough of that fake shit at my place of work.

[wordsmith]

Nobody can offer support if you're going to bring strictly pessimism and bitterness to the table, though. And this is a support board.

People here are going to tell you if they think that is seems like your outlook/attitude are contributing to whatever your issues are, though. You can be annoyed if you like, but the boards are really more about trying to give a hand and offer different perspectives than they are simply affirming wallowing.

[texasgirl]

[QUOTE=caostotale]well, great. Hugs all around for optimism and high self-esteem. The site is here for people who are subject to some kind of "crisis" but let's try to guilt the shit out of someone who's actually trying to comprehend this "crisis" on his own terms or at least vent at it a little bit for some cheap amusement (better yet, a distraction from my boring job)... I think it's annoying and a little tasteless when people come onto a site like this to throw their haughty judgment around and act like know-it-alls around less-fortunates just because they want reassurance in their own right-ness about everything. I'm sorry I dared to be honest about my attitudes and situation here.

First of all, this site — at least from what I understand — is for QLCers to help other QLCers. I am not on your case for venting your job frustrations, but anytime anyone on here tries to help you, you're like, "No. My life sucks. Nobody can help me." No, I don't think I "know it all" — what I'm telling you about jobs where you can use your liberal arts degree is mostly just common sense. You should be honest about your attitudes and situation, but if you're going to post here, at least have the common courtesy to really open your mind to advice from people who truly want to help you out. Otherwise, you're wasting your time and theirs.

[winneythepooh7]

well, great. Hugs all around for optimism and high self-esteem. The site is here for people who are subject to some kind of "crisis" but let's try to guilt the shit out of someone who's actually trying to comprehend this "crisis" on his own terms or at least vent at it a little bit for some cheap amusement (better yet, a distraction from my boring job). While I admit that I have a downer attitude towards a lot of things like the work world and what I conceive of the modern world in general, there is plenty of positive in my life that I don't bother tooting my horn about here. I have a great family, a great partner, and fabulous and inspiring musical things going on all the time. My issues lie solely with the work world and the surrounding financial problems that have stemmed off of it. I think it's annoying and a little tasteless when people come onto a site like this to throw their haughty judgment around and act like know-it-alls around less-fortunates just because they want reassurance in their own right-ness about everything. I'm sorry I dared to be honest about my attitudes and situation here. I didn't think I was supposed to stand on ceremony for the happy-go-lucky's on a frigging web forum! I do enough of that fake shit at my place of work.

Why should people sugar-coat your situation when you are spouting negativity from what we can see? I mean, who's to say that that doesn't have to do with your not being able to get the "career or job" of your choice? I think people tend to do well here when they are more open-minded and not so confrontational with their first couple of posts as a new poster, especially.

[cache]

well, great. Hugs all around for optimism and high self-esteem. The site is here for people who are subject to some kind of "crisis" but let's try to guilt the shit out of someone who's actually trying to comprehend this "crisis" on his own terms or at least vent at it a little bit for some cheap amusement (better yet, a distraction from my boring job). While I admit that I have a downer attitude towards a lot of things like the work world and what I conceive of the modern world in general, there is plenty of positive in my life that I don't bother tooting my horn about here. I have a great family, a great partner, and fabulous and inspiring musical things going on all the time. My issues lie solely with the work world and the surrounding financial problems that have stemmed off of it. I think it's annoying and a little tasteless when people come onto a site like this to throw their haughty judgment around and act like know-it-alls around less-fortunates just because they want reassurance in their own right-ness about everything. I'm sorry I dared to be honest about my attitudes and situation here. I didn't think I was supposed to stand on ceremony for the happy-go-lucky's on a frigging web forum! I do enough of that fake shit at my place of work.


Wow. Read a few of my work related posts. I am a recruiter. And as I have said many times, when it comes down to hiring someone, it is often about the intangibles. Your attitude in all of your posts on here explains your problems. I guarantee even if you go into an interview with the biggest smile and most cheerful attitude, we can see right through it to your darker true self as evidenced by your posts.

QLC is not about sugar coating. Sure, we give support to everyone, but you have to see your own problems. And I think I can comfortably say that people on here do not like it when someone comes on and wants to blame all their problems on some external entity instead of looking inwards.

[NewMrs.]

My liberal arts degree has been brushed off repeatedly in favor of my "employment history," even to the point of interviewers hanging a ton of questions on my job as a dorm security officer and my summer stints delivering newspapers.




I know that the conversation is taking a different turn now. However, when I interviewed about 3 years ago for my current job, I already had 3.5 years of experience in my industry and two professional designations. The HR rep that interviewed me still asked about my summer retail jobs and about one of the gigs I held after college when I was looking for a "real" job. I'm not in HR myself, but I think that the interviewer just asks these questions to get a feel for somebody's different skill sets.

Sorry for the threadjack. :)

[caostotale]

Sorry for the threadjack. :)

I think that's the apology I owe.